14 DAY TRIAL // Download the new Windows Vista Service Pack 1 wallpaper. And if this sounds like a mock attempt or a bad joke from Microsoft, well, it isn't. It's an initiative from Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc who made his own content available for download via one of the company's official channels on Windows Vista. The fact of the matter is that whatever your expectations might have been, about the first service pack for the latest Windows client, in terms of new content, Microsoft is delivering no fresh vistas, no new screensavers, and not even the ability to edit the settings of the existing screensavers. Just one new Vista SP1.
"For the last week, I had been using one of the photos I took on my recent trip around Washington State as my desktop wallpaper. It was an image I took in the Columbia River Gorge near an abandoned railroad track. I got down really close to the railroad track for a really interesting shot. I think it looks really neat as a desktop wallpaper so I thought I'd create a range of different sizes of the image to share, to use as your desktop wallpaper on your PC. I've created a range of sizes of the wallpaper for you to download depending on your display resolution via Windows Live SkyDrive," LeBlanc stated.
But the true Microsoft failure that is undoubtedly itching end users is labeled the Windows Vista Ultimate Extras. A pet project designed to provide complimentary content for the high-end edition of Vista, from animated and static backgrounds to language packs, games and additional materials, features a poor selection at over a year since its introduction. Furthermore, Microsoft, after having killed the original Ultimate Extras website moving the project over at Ultimate PCs, brought nothing new to the table with the advent of SP1. For over a year, Ultimate Extras have delivered just the Hold'Em Poker Game, BitLocker and EFS enhancements the language packs and Windows DreamScene.
LeBlanc found himself on the defensive in respect to Ultimate Extras: "This wallpaper was created by *me* on my own time for Windows Vista and is not associated with anything regarding Windows Vista Ultimate specifically or as a Ultimate Extra." LeBlanc offered Microsoft's official perspective over Ultimate Extras and Vista Ultimate SP1, namely that the company has absolutely no new information to share.